Just a few notes before we start this project - -
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Be prepared that this is time consuming.
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These nails can break - just like real ones.
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They make dressing the doll more difficult - I recommend
using a set of paper cones to wrap around the hands during
outfit changing. -
I've done these several times and I haven't managed to get a
perfect looking set yet.
Now that you have been fairly warned we can begin.
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Supplies:
These nails are made using the plastic coating from a paperclip. So you will need a standard size plastic coated paperclip in the color of your choice. If you want to paint the completed nails to a specific color (to match lips etc..) I would recommend using white or pale pink so that the underside looks natural.
You will also need:
- Super Glue - I prefer the brand shown, it fills in gaps for a better fit.
- x-acto knife
- Tweezers
- Small Scissors (shown are cuticle scissors and I highly recommend them for this project)
- Wax Paper - optional and not shown above.
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Step One:
I don't have pictures for this step (I tried
they just didn't come out)
You are going to cut the plastic off of the paperclip. You
need to try and get a straight line lengthwise, because you will
need to cut that in half again.
Think of the coating as a long tube - you need to cut that tube in half lengthwise so that you end up with two "C" shaped lengths of plastic.
You can do this is small sections so long as you
have at least double the length of the desired fingernail to
begin with.
Note: in the supplies photo you can see the
pieces cut from the paperclip. As you can see they are not
all perfect - but a standard paperclip has enough plastic for
several full sets of nails
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Step Two:
Select 15-20 of the best pieces for use. You will have some that are cut too crooked or ones with damaged plastic that happened during the cutting process. So choose you best pieces to move to the next step with
Flatten out one end slightly and trim the end to
a nice curve to align with the base of the dolls nail.
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Step Three:
I usually put a few drops of the super glue onto wax paper and then while holding the "nail" with the tweezers I carefully dip the underside in the glue. The point is that you don't want to get glue everywhere and you also don't want too much on the nail that you have to clean up later.
So use whatever glue method you think will work best for you.
Once you have a SMALL amount of glue on the underside of the nail base, carefully line it up with the nail marks on the doll. This is tricky! I've had the nails pop out of the tweezers, I've had them stick to the wrong finger, I've had them move at the last minute before they are dry. Just keep practicing.
Once the nails are in place - before the
glue dries completely - carefully remove any excess glue from
the fingers.
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Step Four:
Once all the nails are in place and the glue has
dried completely,
you should have something that looks like
this....
That extra length for the nails was to help
during placement. I've damaged the ends of the nails
during placement and was always glad I had the extra length to
trim off.
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Step Five:
So, now you are going to trim the nails to your
desired length.
and shape the ends as desired.
Note: the smaller the scissors the easier this will be!
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The Finished Product:
below is another picture of the same set of nails,
a
little fuzzy on the picture but less flash.
And finally a picture in context with our dressed doll
so that you can see the reason
why all this trouble is worth it. They look so pretty when they
are done!
A big thanks to my friend,
Xenia, who let me use her doll "Violet"
as the model for these instructions.